Method of and means for drying



Oct. 8, 1929.

J M. RUGH' METHOD OF AND MEANS F612 minke Filed July 25, 1925 John M Rugh INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY? u l llllllhu Patented 0a. a, 1929 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN at. noon, on ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, assrenon 'ro mnarcan (durum) oouramr, or mew YORK, N. Y., A conromrroit or MAINE -IE'1HOD OF AND MEANS FOR DRYING" Application fl1ed July 25 worthless products. Inevapor'at'ing solutions thereof care must be taken not to allow the material, as it is precipitated by reason of the evaporation of water,'to become heated to a temperature much above the boiling point ofwater, otherwise decomposition occurs. I have found in practice that with the ordinary apparatus available, it was a difficult matter to prevent decomposition, especially during the later stages of the drying, when a large portion of the materialis in the solid form and is without the protection afiorded by the presence of water, whichabsorbs the heat applied and thus keeps thetemperature down. I have also found that it is extremely diflicult to prevent caking of material in the drying apparatus hitherto available, rendering it uneconomical to concentrate many materials because of the necessity of frequently stopping the evaporation and removing the caked material. The losses of material going out with the exit gases and vapors as well as in the 4 caked material, were considerable.

My invention is intended to obviate these difiiculties, it being among the objects thereof to devise a method of and means for drying materials which shall be simple and effective, which shall prevent undue losses thereof by decomposition and by being carried out with the exit gases, and which shall be continuous.

In practicing my invention I provide a dryer, consisting essentially of a horizontal, rotating cylinder, slightly inclined, through which the liquid tobeevaporated is caused to flow and is kept in constant agitation so as to uniformly expose the same to the heating medium. Hot gases, generally products of com- 50 bustion, are passed through the cylinder, en-

- terial. I

The products of combustion passing dust. In order to prevent loss thereof{ 1 and ineshin 1925. Serial No. 46,009.

tering the same at the-upper end together with the stream of liquid to be evaporated.

By this procedure the hot gases come in contact with the most dilute solution and they exert a maximum of evaporating eflect thereon when there is no danger of decomposition of 'the solids taking place. The liquid and the gases pass in the same direction to the lower end of the cylinder, the gases becoming cooler as they approach the lower end and the liquid being evaporated so that at the coolest portion the gases are mixed with solid, dried mathrough an exit stack carry along therewl some of the dried material in the form of I provide a spray in the stack, generally 0 liquid to be evaporated and scrub the gases, thereby removing all the dust suspended in the gases and at the same time causing some 'eva oration of water to take place. The scru bing liquid may then be returned to the dryer to be evaporated as above set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, constituting a part hereof, and in which'like reference characters indicate like parts; Y

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an apparatus adapted for the practice of my invention, and 3 Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the drying cylinder, taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3. is a perspective view offa heavy member adapted to be periodically dro ped within the drier to prevent caking 0 material therein.

There is provlded a horizontal cylinder 1 having a driving ring gear 2 secured thereto with a driving I. pinion, not shown. Ban s 3 are secured to the cylinder at various points and rest upon rollers, not shown, all as is well-known in the art. Withiii the cylinder, and. equally spaced around the circumference thereof, is a series of angle.

members 4 extending longitudinally through theentire length of the cylinder 1. Secured thereto in a staggered relation are several sets of baffles 5 and 5', and rings. 6, constitu ting dams for the liquid to prevent the same 100 the I from flowing to the lower end of the cylinder too rapidly, are interposed between the several sets of baflles. Generally the baflies do not extend further than from the upper end 7 of the cylinder to the middle thereof. A combustion chamber 8, provided with a source of liquid or gaseous fuel 9 and with a blower 10'to sup 1y air or combustion, has an opening 11 lea ing into the up er end 7 of the rotary dryer. A pipe 12 o fire clay -or similar material is adapted to receive liqluid from va vs 14.

At the lower end of cylinder 1 is a dust chamber 15 provided with a screw conveyor 16 to remove the material therefrom 'and deposit the' same in hop er 17. Directly below. the stack 18 for t e exit gases is a receptacle 19, ada ted to catch any liquid falling from the sai stack, and a pipe 20 leading from the receptacle is 'connected to centrifugal pump 21 and allows the pumping of liquid from receptacle 19 by the pump 21 throu h pipe 22 and into the receiving tank 23; rom the bottom of the said tank a pipe 24, controlled by valve 25', conducts liquid to a spray 26 in the stack 18. Y

The operationof my apparatus for the production of calcium formate, for example, is as follows:

Combustion is started in chamber- 8 and the hot gases therefrom are caused to pass through cylinder 1, chamber 15 and stack 18. A re atively dilute solution, of calcium formate is placed in the tank 23, which is preferably equipped with an agitator, valves pipe 13, having a shut-oil .14 and 25 are opened causing the liquid to flow through pipe" 13' and pipe 12 into the.

upper end of cyhnder 1 and at the same time liquid flows or is pumped through pipe 24 and 'is showered down the stack by spray 26. The li uid entering the cylinder is caught by baihes 5 and 5 and is showered down through the gases of combustion, which pass become caked therein.

through the c linder in the same direction as the liquid. he dams 6 temporaril retain uneva orated liquid and prevent t e same from owing through the cylinder too rapidly. As the material approaches the lower end of the cylinder, the water is completely evaporated, leavin a solid material in the form of a fine pow er. There is sometimes a tendency for the material, as it'passes from the plastic to the dry state, to cake upon the walls of the c linder and this is prevented by inserting rough a suitable opening in the u per end thereof a heavy member, a gener y in the form of an iron bar or angle or-the like r 27 which isslowly carried down through the c linder by .the rotation and inclination t ereof, in its passage being raised b the. angles 4 and bafliesv 5 and 5 and periodically dropped, giving. blows to the interior of the cylinder and loosening material that ma erate of feed 15 of sprays 26 may .the use of a pump for transferring liquids is controlled so that the material is dry when it reaches the lower end.

The gases of combustion carrying some cal cium formats dust pass u wardly through stack 18 and are met by a s ower-of calcium formate solution from spray 26 which removes the dust from the gases, the hot gases causing some evaporation of water from the solution, which is caught in receptacle 19 and is pumped therefrom by pump 21 and returned to tank 23 to be passed through the system, as above described, or it may be pumped directly into the dryer at the u per end thereof.

A similar procedure may be followed in the evaporation of solutions of other materials that are easily decomposable by excessive heat, and I may substitute for the calcium formats a solution of ammonium phosphate, which is evaporated in the same manner and the dust removed from the exit gases, as above described. However, it sometimes occurs that the exit gases in this case contain also some free ammonia due to the addition of too much ammonia to the material during the early stages of the manufacturing operation and it is desired to; removethe same from the exit gases to minimize losses.

0 accomplish this the valve 14 is closed an tank 23 is filled with phosphoric. acid solution, which is sprayed through the stack 18, not only scrubbing out the dust but also absorbing any ammonia in the gases, the solution being pumped back to the tank 23. After this solution has I become suificientl and ammonium p ospate, it is removedfrom saturated with ammonia tank 23 and is utilized in the manufacture of ammonium phosphate in the regular way. During the operation, solution for evaporation is supplied to the u per end of the cylinder 1 through pipe 2 from a tank, not shown. v

Although I have described my invention, setting forth a single embodiment of the apthe operation thereof by two examples, my invention is not limited to the embodiment shown, nor the examples used, as it is apparent that various changes, both in the conparatus which I have devised and illustrating struction of the cylinder 1 may be different I from that described, it being necessary only to provide some means for tumbling o spraying the liquid througlh the path of the gases in order to expose a arge surface thereof to the hot of heat or instance, superheated steam may be u or waste hot from some other operation; may be substituted for the oil' or gas flame which I. referably use. The ray of any type'desi and not at allessential as various other means for I may use a different source 4 so doing are well known in the art. In case the solution contains suspended solid material which affects the regulation of flow through valve 14, an air or steam lift, not shown, I

' by valves in the steam or air line at a point outside of the dust chamber 15, which. is provided with a window through which the operator may observe the flow of the solution through the drier and may be guided in regulating the said valves. These and other changes may be made in my invention, the

v spirit and scope of which is set forth in the claims agpended hereto.

What claim is:

1. Apparatus for drying comprising an inclined, rotar drier, means for introducing the liquid to be dried at the upper end, longitudinally extending baflles in said drier for tumbling said liquid, and means for retard,- ing the flow of liquid through the drier including a dam over which the liquid must spill.

2. Apparatus for drying comprising an inclined, rotary drier, means for introducing heating gases at the upper end thereof, a container for liquid to be dried, means for causing the same to flow into the upper end of said drier, and a heavy, free body disposed within said drier and means on the inner wall of the drier to engage saidbody on rotation of the drier'and raise the same, said engagin means being formed to release said raised body to enable it to drop, and thus prevent the caking of material in-the drier. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22nd day of July, 1925.

JOHN M. RUGH. 

